Martinsburg daily gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1887-1887, 1887-07-23
SATURDAY. JULY q, 1881.
SCENES IN NORWAY.
a PEEP AT THE MOST NORTHERN
FORT IN THE WORLD.

visit to the Public schools Of vardo.
Pleasant and Entertaining Exercises.
ssaIodoroa< Factories for Rendering
whale I;inbber into oil.
Vardo ii The most easterIy town III Nor
WAY located on an island Of the same
name In the Arctic ocean. in latitude 10
degrees 20 minutes 36 seconds north. 1t
Is separated from the mainland by chan
mel tsyo miles WIDE and contains popu-
lation of about 2 0o0. 1t claims the most
northern fJrt iii al the world, which is
syssT.;3,lcd by sixteen men and has an
armament OF about an equal number of
oil fashioned cannon, making d man for
each gan. The keystone Of an arch over
the entrance to the rampant bears the date
ss1737 III
There being two public schools in the
Place, and / naturally having curiosity
10 visit q seat of learning whose founda-
tiJ:is were lashed by the Arctic wave, !
entered the larger of the two by a rear
duar, for there WIS no entrance from the.
street nor III either end. / was kindly
and politely salutel by the teacher, and
On entering the main room the pupils
= LIZ md bowed to me- A
sent YVES given the and d book was placed
in my hai.d tIisst | ,,,sgllt follow the boys
and girls ttrDa II Their reading lesson,
which was characterized in some meas
IRE by that GCleful cuunciation so often
heard iii rural Schools The girls wore
the inevitable handkerchief about. their
heads. A bit Of 1.-the cane in corner
represented the pcaas,ogic mace. The
rooms on this day, the Sth Of July,
were heated by coal stoves The school
contained : four departments under a
riiile principal, aid three assistant female
teachers, AL intelligent and wide awake.
From the principals room ] passed to
All adjoining one in charge of Il bright
and neatly att;red young lady, who re-
qufred her pupils to sing for me, and
stroye with or; ceful tact to make the exer-
cises pleasant and ineligible to one
totally ignoraI Of the language It. was
almost pitifUl to see some Of the girls
carcssing small punches Of puny dande-
lion blossoms that seemed as precious to
them as a victoria reesia would be to a
southern maid Others were nursing a.
few sprays of miilefolium IN bottles of
water, and one could only wonder that sol
stunted and sparse u flora could beget any
love for flowers ut all and yet geraniums
and roses in the windows of the better.
houses are not uncommon. Excepting q
small and unimportant one at Hammer
fest, this is the most northern school in
the world and after pleasant hour there
in departed
The remainder Of the day concluded
to spend in visiting the whale .'fabriks;'f
that IS, the establishments for rendering
whale blubber into oil and transforming
the krang licensed carcasses) into artificial
guanol have had occasion already to
mention several of the most northern
things in the world; here discovered the
most powerful stencil in al Europe, and
probably in the world, and yeti felt will
ing to brave it to witness dissection Of
lcyiathans. There are around Vardo four
or five establishments, each having several
steam whGlers constantly securing the
seas or the coast In pursuit Of whales
Floating in the channel before the diff
ferent factories were forty hensed car
cases, some swollen to enormous proper
tions, Two large whales, one sesentY-five
feet in length, were drawn out on the
shore. one with the hluhbcr newly re-